Dell Studio 1747 Shutting down due to overheating

I've got this nearly two years old Studio 1747. The computer started to shut down every now and then when playing games during winter/fall this year. The first thought was some kind of virus or such, but after a completely reinstalling the OS and everything else, the problem's still there. I've now checked the CPU-temperatures, which seems to be around 65-70 celcius as we speak, having nothing but Google Chrome browser running. As soon as I start a fullscreen game they jump to 85-100 celcius. I can't play, for instance, Monkey Island for more than 20 minutes before having to shut it down to let it cool off, or it'll automatically shut down in a couple of minutes. I'm not sure about the graphic cards temperature.

I usually have the computer standing on a couple of pencils to improve the airflow, but it seems to make no big difference.

I did boot the Dell diagnostics, passed the first 30 tests, chose to run the remaining 30 minutes, but the computer shut down after only a couple of minutes into that sequence, most likely due to overheating.

How do I check the heatsink assembly? I guess it'd be a good place to start. Guess I can google it, so I'll try that, but still!

Thanks a lot for your help. I tried this today, but quit at step 12. Didn't feel confident enough when it got to the point where I had to remove all the small cables and get them out through the routing guides and cable routing slot. Oh well.

Thanks anyways for your help! I guess I've gotta live with this, or hand it in and get it fixed for maybe a hundred bucks!

Instead of recall or redesign, Dell have continued since c2007 to sell this laptop in this defective heatsink configuration to new customers fully aware of this being a manufacturing defect through not fit for purpose design.

And if you attempt to escalate the matter despite that widespread evidence, you are forced to navigate through the plethura of highly problematic overseas call centres in the Philipines and India instead of local in country escalation, and you will receive complete denial, generally defensive and ill informed rhetoric and very little else.

Michael Dell himself should really take note that this level of sales and aftersales service really does make an international corporation with all the resources otherwise to do far better, a hopeless laughing stock.

Even the maintenance engineers that examine the heat exchanger have had to admit that for the normal operating environment into which the Dell product is sold the thermal exchange blades are designed to be much too close together and with insufficient ingress egress apertures and become easily and unacceptably clogged with dust so as to cause overheating within an operating envelope that can never be user servicable.

The result is that the processor, the motherboard and other components begin to malfunction slow up significantly crash and become permantly damaged and require replacing - but if your warranty is expired Dell will not admit that this should in any case be at their cost - you will pay for a manufacturing defect (a design defect that is not fit for purpose) until Dell own upto this and do the right thing - My email < ADMIN NOTE : Email id removed per privacy policy >

I worked in UK government for nearly 20 years, served in a technical IT division as head of CAD training for UK govt. in the days when Dell really was a very worthwhile IT manufacturer and supplier in the government and private sector - somehow they have really lost it which is a shame.

I had same problem with my computer shutting down. It would crash whenever I would run the CPU stress test. I figured if the problem was a dust build up on the fan and heat sink then....remove the dust. I used an air compressor to clear the vent and fan of dust. I then reran the CPU stress test and the computer passed. Just be careful not to use too high a pressure air if you use a compressor to clear the dust out of your laptop.

Mine would shut down randomly. Last night while trying to finish a 5 minute HD video it shut off on me 3 times in a row. After reading this I blew air into the fan from the bottom and a little dust flew out. When I blew air from the back a huge cloud of dust blew out. I just finished the video that I could not last night. Also when I think back it would always shut off on me when it was on my lap. I guess my leg must have been blocking the fan. Thanks for everyone's help.

This has become a HUGE problem for me. It started out as an issue from the beginning, when I purchased my Studio 1747, when I first started school in 2010. My warranty has of course expired and now I can barely do anything basic on my CPU without it getting really hot. I have a collection of fans that I purchased to help with the issue. I have also had it professionally cleaned, and I clean it periodically to control the dust. Is there anything I can do to keep it from overheating.

I plan on replacing it soon and giving it to my husband, but he is not computer savvy, so I need all of the issues fixed prior to the handover. Thank you for comments and suggests. :)